Portland Mayor Sam Adams and city commissioners joined with Police Chief Mike Reese Monday afternoon to mark the opening of the Portland Police Bureau’s new police training center.

Located at 14912 N.E. Airport Way, the 9.6 acre property backs up to the Columbia Slough and includes a 61,276 sq. ft.-building that used to be home to a trucking company.

The City Council voted in March to purchase the $6.5 million property, allowing the Police Bureau to conduct a majority of its training in one location for the first time.

"This will serve the Portland Police Bureau very well," Adams told about 75 community members and officers assembled in the front entrance to the building.

The police chief thanked commissioners for their support.

Reese told the crowd that he thinks he and the mayor "will see this as the most important contribution we've made as a team."

"This is something that we've needed for a long time," Reese said.

The bureau’s Training Division has moved into the building and is holding a portion of its tactical and classroom training there. It expects to hold all of the bureau's annual refresher training at the new site between January and June 2013.

Late next year, the bureau is expected to begin construction on a 24-lane indoor-firing range, indoor mock city for scenario-based training and outdoor paved area to practice low-speed driving. The bureau will continue to practice high-speed driving at Portland International Raceway.

"We are finally bringing our training out of the woods, and into the present day" Commissioner Dan Saltzman said, referencing the Sherwood firing range and old Camp Withycombe training site used by Portland police.

Suzanne Hayden, executive director of the Citizens Crime Commission, said she was particularly excited about Monday's opening since she was "appalled" by the bureau's Camp Withycombe facility when she participated in the bureau's one-day Citizens Academy.

Reese told the council this spring that he expects the cost of purchase and renovation to reach $14.2 million, with contingency costs of about $1.8 million. The center will cost about $395,000 annually to operate and maintain, the chief said.

In a budget approved by the council in spring 2011, the mayor directed the city to finance a $15 million center through bonds over 10 years. After the purchase cost, the remaining balance of the $15 million bond, or $8.5 million, will be used for property improvements, according to Bob Kieta, city facilities services manager.

Future home of the new Portland police training center's gun range.Maxine Bernstein/The Oregonian

The Portland firm Scott Edwards Architects will oversee the remodel.

Commissioner Nick Fish said the need for a centrally located police training facility has been on the bureau's and council's radar for years. He said he expects it to help improve police training - one of the areas cited by federal Justice Department officials as deficient.

"It's even more important after the (DOJ) document has been issued," Fish said. "The goal is better training and better coordination."